Precise UAV tracking in 3-D space

• US 10,568,063 B2
• Filed: 11/30/2016
• Issued: 02/18/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Hanes, Michael David, Byers, Charles Calvin, Salgueiro, Gonzalo, Clarke, Joseph Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Holliday, Jaime M
• Application Number:
  US15/364,984
• Publication Number:
  US 20180152909A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,175 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/10 using transmission of interrupted, pulse modulated waves determination of distance by phase measurement G01S13/32
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0252 Radio frequency fingerprinting
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0294 Trajectory determination or predictive filtering, e.g. target tracking or Kalman filtering
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/27 for locating or positioning the transmitter
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/28 using beam steering
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

In one embodiment, a first wireless unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-locating signal is transmitted by a wireless network access point in a network based on a first UAV-locating mode selected from a plurality of UAV-locating modes. The wireless network access point receives a wireless signal in response to the first transmitted UAV-locating signal, the wireless signal indicative of a location of an airborne UAV, and causes the determination of the location of the airborne UAV based on the received wireless signal. The wireless network access point transmits a second wireless UAV-locating signal based on a second UAV-locating mode selected from the plurality of UAV-locating modes. The selected UAV-locating modes control an emission pattern of an antenna of the wireless network access point.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

transmitting, by a wireless network access point in a network, a first wireless unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-locating signal based on a first UAV-locating mode selected from a plurality of UAV-locating modes, the first UAV-locating mode causing the wireless network access point to search for local UAVs, wherein the wireless network access point is a base station or a router;

receiving, at the wireless network access point, a plurality of wireless signals in response to the first transmitted UAV-locating signal, wherein the plurality of wireless signals are indicative of locations of a plurality of airborne UAVs;

detecting, by the wireless network access point, each of the plurality of airborne UAVs and causing a determination to be made regarding a location of each of the plurality of airborne UAVs based on each of the wireless signals received;

in response to detecting at least one UAV of the plurality of airborne UAVs, switching, by the wireless network access point, to a second UAV-locating mode to track the UAV;

transmitting, by the wireless network access point, a second wireless UAV-locating signal based on a second UAV-locating mode selected from the plurality of UAV-locating modes;

tracking, by the wireless network access point while in the second UAV-locating mode, the plurality of airborne UAVs; and

wherein the first and second UAV-locating modes control the wireless network access point to emit different emission patterns from an antenna of the wireless network access point.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the UAV-locating modes are selected by the wireless network access point, by a second wireless network access point in the network, or by a supervisory device in the network.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the antenna of the wireless network access point is a phase array antenna.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first UAV-locating signal is transmitted as a scanning signal across azimuth and elevation angles of a hemisphere centered at the wireless network access point.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the received wireless signal is a portion of the transmitted first UAV-locating signal reflected back from the airborne UAV.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

causing, by the wireless network access point, a determination of one or more characteristic features of the plurality of airborne UAVs based on signal strength of the received wireless signal.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the characteristic feature is UAV model type, payload weight estimate, or payload size estimate.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

causing, by the wireless network access point, a determination of one or more characteristic features of the airborne UAV based on signal variance of the received wireless signal.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

causing, by the wireless network access point, a determination of UAV velocity based on Doppler shifts of the received wireless signal.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the received wireless signal is a response signal transmitted by each of the plurality of airborne UAVs.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the received wireless signal is a preamble signal.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, at the wireless network access point, a second wireless signal in response to the second transmitted UAV-locating signal, wherein the received second signal has a reduced signal characteristic than the received first wireless signal.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the signal characteristic is signaling rate.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless network access point:

transmits a plurality of second wireless UAV-locating signals.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the location of the plurality of airborne UAVs is determined by a cloud device or a fog device.

16. A wireless network access point comprising:

one or more network interfaces to communicate within a computer network;

a processor coupled to the network interfaces and configured to execute one or more processes; and

a memory configured to store a process executable by the processor, the process when executed operable to;

transmit a first wireless unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-locating signal based on a first UAV-locating mode selected from a plurality of UAV-locating modes, the first UAV-locating mode causing the wireless network access point to search for local UAVs, wherein the wireless network access point is a base station or a router;

base station or a router;

receive a plurality of wireless signals in response to the first transmitted UAV-locating signal, wherein the plurality of wireless signals are indicative of locations of a plurality of airborne UAVs;

detect each of the plurality of airborne UAVs and causing a determination to be made regarding a location of each of the plurality of airborne UAVs based on each of the wireless signals received;

in response to detecting the UAV, switch to a second UAV-locating mode selected from the plurality of UAV-locating modes to track the UAV;

transmit a second wireless UAV-locating signal based on the second UAV-locating mode;

track, while in the second UAV-locating mode, the plurality of airborne UAVs; and

wherein the first and second UAV-locating modes control the wireless network access point to emit different emission patterns from an antenna of the wireless network access point.

17. A tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media having software encoded thereon, the software, when executed by a processor operable to:

transmit a first wireless unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-locating signal based on a first UAV-locating mode selected from a plurality of UAV-locating modes, the first UAV-locating mode causing a wireless network access point to search for local UAVs, wherein the wireless network access point is a base station or a router;

receive a plurality of wireless signals in response to the first transmitted UAV-locating signal, wherein the plurality of wireless signals are indicative of locations of a plurality of airborne UAVs;

detect each of the plurality of airborne UAVs and causing a determination to be made regarding a location of each of the plurality of airborne UAVs based on each of the wireless signals received;

in response detecting at least one UAV of the plurality of airborne UAVs, switching, by the wireless network access point, to a second UAV-locating mode to track the UAV;

transmit a second wireless UAV-locating signal based on the second UAV-locating mode;

track, while in the second UAV-locating mode, the plurality of airborne UAVs; and

wherein the first and second UAV-locating modes control the wireless network access point to emit different emission patterns from an antenna of the wireless network access point.